Description: Linux driver for Host AP mode of Intersil Prism2/2.5/3
Keywords: Host AP, hostap, Prism2, Linux driver for Prism2, Linux access point, software access point, hostapd, IEEE 802.11, IEEE 802.1X, WPA, WPA Supplicant, IEEE 802.11i, TKIP, CCMP

## Host AP driver for Intersil Prism2/2.5/3

### Introduction

This is a Linux driver for wireless LAN cards based on Intersil's Prism2/2.5/3 chipset. The driver supports a so called Host AP mode, i.e., it takes care of IEEE 802.11 management functions in the host computer and acts as an access point. This does not require any special firmware for the wireless LAN card. In addition to this, it has support for normal station operations in BSS and possible also in IBSS. The station mode supports WPA when used with accompanied tools, wpa_supplicant.

Intersil's station firmware for Prism2 chipset supports a so called Host AP mode in which the firmware takes care of time critical tasks like beacon sending and frame acknowledging, but leaves other management tasks to host computer driver. This driver implements basic functionality needed to initialize and configure Prism2-based cards, to send and receive frames, and to gather statistics. In addition, it includes an implementation of following IEEE 802.11 functions: authentication (and deauthentication), association (reassociation, and disassociation), data transmission between two wireless stations, power saving (PS) mode signaling and frame buffering for PS stations. The driver has also various features for development debugging and for researching IEEE 802.11 environments like access to hardware configuration records, I/O registers, and frames with 802.11 headers.

When used with a user space daemon, the combination of the Host AP driver and hostapd daemon includes additional features. These include support for IEEE 802.1X and dynamic WEP rekeying, RADIUS Accounting, RADIUS-based ACL for IEEE 802.11 authentication, minimal IAPP (IEEE 802.11f).

Linux Wireless LAN Howto has some useful information about wireless LAN support in Linux. In addition, it includes information about which cards are Prism2-based (and can thus be used in Host AP mode).

### Download

Host AP driver
Copyright (c) 2001-2002, SSH Communications Security Corp and Jouni Malinen.
Copyright (c) 2002-2004, Jouni Malinen.
Author: Jouni Malinen <jkmaline@cc.hut.fi>

Host AP utils
Copyright (c) 2002-2004, Jouni Malinen <jkmaline@cc.hut.fi>.

hostapd
Copyright (c) 2002-2004, Jouni Malinen <jkmaline@cc.hut.fi>.

wpa_supplicant
Copyright (c) 2003-2004, Jouni Malinen <jkmaline@cc.hut.fi>.

This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License version 2 as published by the Free Software Foundation. See COPYING for more details.

Please see README for updated documentation of the driver. Please also check FAQ before sending problem reports.

- Latest release:
  - hostap-driver-0.1.2.tar.gz
  - hostap-utils-0.1.2.tar.gz
  - hostapd-0.1.0.tar.gz
- ChangeLog:
  - hostap-driver: [development branch] [stable branch]
  - hostap-utils: [development branch] [stable branch]
- Old releases
- Mailing list
- New mailing list archives
- Old mailing list archives
- Search old mailing list archives
- Web interface to CVS repository
- CVS snapshot of the driver source code [development branch] [stable branch]
- Read-only anonymous CVS access (pserver)
- Host AP related links

### Wireless Tools for Linux

Please, note that you will need quite recent version of Wireless Tools to use some features of the Host AP driver. Using the latest version of the tools is recommended. Some features might also require latest beta version.

### Feedback, comments, mailing list

Any comments, reports on success/failure, ideas for further improvement, feature requests, etc. are welcome at jkmaline@cc.hut.fi. Please note, that I may not always have time for replying emails quickly, but I'll try to go through my mail when ever time permits. There is also a mailing list for Host AP related messages. Since this list has a broader audience, you might even get an answer.. Anyway, this list is recommended for general questions about Host AP driver and its development. In addition, I will send release notes to it whenever a new version is available.

The mailing list information and web archive is at http://lists.shmoo.com/mailman/listinfo/hostap. Messages to hostap@shmoo.com will be delivered to the subscribers. Please note, that due to large number of spam and virus messages sent to the list address, the list is configured to automatically accept messages only from subscribed addresses.

Last modified: Wed Jan 28 22:42:14 PST 2004